THEN & NOW
Jaguar roadsters were style setters
From the race track to the open road, drop top Jags are praised for their pace and grace

THEN

While Jaguar sedans have exuded an aura of refined luxury, the company's roadsters have always been all about style, glamour and performance.

Jaguar evolved from making Swallow motorcycle sidecars into a builder of custom-bodied cars, and then into a manufacturer in its own right in the 1930s using the SS name. It built a number of open-topped tourers along the way, but the first real sports car that began the process of legend-building was the SS90 of 1935.

This classic sports car, with its long hood, low-slung radiator, close-coupled cockpit and short rear deck bracketed by elegantly curved fenders, was based on a shortened version of the SS1 saloon/coupe chassis. It was powered by an uninspiring 2,663 cc, flathead six that produced 70 hp and could do about 145 km/h.

A year later, the SS90 evolved into what most consider the definitive pre-war Jaguar roadster, the SS Jaguar 100. It was also the first time the Jaguar name appeared on a car.

The car looked fabulous with its huge front lamps, fold flat windscreen and a pair of aero-screens in place. It sold for a reasonable 385 pounds. Just 190 were built, with a further 118 3.5-litre versions added before production ended in 1940. The 3.5-litre boasted 125 hp, got to 100 km/h in just over 10 seconds and could do almost 160 km/h. It was a fast car for its time.

It would take almost a decade for the next Jaguar sports car, the XK120, to arrive.

Jaguar had been working on two new engine designs, a four and a six, which were due to be slotted into the XK100 and XK120. The four never emerged, but the classic twin-cam six did, and was bolted right into an aluminum bodied XK120 prototype that was shown at the Earls Court Motor show in 1948.

Response was overwhelming and by 1950 the XK120 was in production.

This one was also a stunner. It followed the established theme of the SS100, but with sleek, enveloping bodywork fronted by a radiator grille that has become a company trademark. The 3,442cc, twin-cam six produced 160 hp, which was enough to give the car a zero to 100 km/h time of 10 seconds and a top speed of 200 km/h - heady indeed for those days.

The XK120 went on to a have a worthy competition career (a loose derivative, the C-Type, gave Jaguar its first Le Mans win in 1951), and was much sought after by the cool dudes of the day. There was also a very pretty coupe version. The XK120 was in production from 1949 to 1954. An XK140 roadster followed in 1954 and an XK150 in 1957.

But perhaps the best recognized Jaguar roadster of all is the 1961 E-Type.

The E-Type was the evolution of the Le Mans winning racers and several prototypes developed in the late 1950s. Like the XK120 before it, the E-Type was designed to be a high performance sports touring machine, and incorporated a high level of creature comforts in its snug cabin (it could later be had in coupe and 2+2 form). In styling terms it was the ultimate expression of the SS Jaguar 100's long-bonneted and rakish look, but with decidedly more polish.

The E-Type was built around a monocoque centre and rear with a tubular front section. Suspension was an independent set-up all around - a first for Jaguar - and there were 4-disc brakes. The car weighed in at just 1219 kg, and with the 3.8-litre inline six producing 265 hp, it was a fast car indeed with a top speed approaching 240 km/h and zero to 100 km/h taking about seven seconds.

E-Types were raced with some success, but the track wasn't where they really shone. The car was at its best on the open road, its top down and wire wheels gleaming. American auto writer Henry Manney summed it up best as "the greatest crumpet-catcher known to man." It was in production until 1975, eventually being powered by V12 engines.

The next Jaguar roadster, the XJ-S, actually first appeared as a coupe in 1975, built on a modified XJ6 sedan platform and powered by a 5.4-litre V12 producing 285 hp. By 1983 it was becoming topless, although not completely so, as a roll cage-like structure remained after the roof panels were removed. But by the1988 model year the XJ-S V12 was a true roadster and it was available with either 6- or 12-cylinder power.

The XJ-S wasn't a sports car though. Like its predecessors, this was a luxurious grand touring machine, although it didn't lack pace to go along with its grace, being capable of 240 km/h. Some were even raced with some success. It was in production until 1996.

NOW

Jaguar XK8

If the XJ-S was more cruiser than sports car, its replacement, the XK8, is a true successor to the line of machines that began with the SS 100 and ended with the E-Type.

The XK8 arrived in 1996, the work of late Jaguar stylist Geoff Lawson. Rather than a far-out supercar (Jaguar had already done that with the XJ220 of the early '90s) unattainable to most, the XK8 is a sports car very much in the Jaguar mould. Very sexy looking, but also very traditional with long, soft curves, it looks like a Jaguar sports car should. And goes like one as well, with its 4.2-litre V8 engine producing 294 horsepower.

A state-of-the-art, electronically controlled 6-speed automatic transmission ensures that drivers are able to make the most of the power when they choose, yet be equally at ease in urban traffic. And a portfolio of enhanced electronic and other equipment options - focusing on safety, comfort and driveability - make the new XK even more technologically advanced.

Of course if that isn't enough, you can always opt for the XKR, which comes with a supercharger that blows in enough boost to create 390 hp, making this drop top a very fast cat indeed.

The XK8 and XKR range has become the fastest selling sports car in Jaguar history with more than 70,000 sold worldwide since their launch.